ASSESSING BRIDGE PIER SCOUR BY RADAR

Detection of river-bed scour around bridge piers represents a major cu rrent problem for engineers both in the UK and internationally. Techni ques using boat-mounted impulse radar survey equipment have been sugge sted as a potentially viable solution to the problem. A programme of s ystematic laboratory model tests has been undertaken to examine the in fluences of pier and hole geometry upon measured radar response. These tests have been supplemented by field trials on real scour holes. Res ults from both laboratory and field studies have been used to validate numerical models developed using ray-tracing and finite difference te chniques. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.